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Friday, Oct. 7, 2005 | 7:29 a.m.

Asashoryu File

Born: Sept. 27, 1980, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Height: 6 feet, 1/2 inch

Weight: 320 pounds

Given name: Dolgorsuren Dagvadorj

Style: The first Mongolian yokozuna (highest rank of Sumo), which he was granted Jan. 30, 2003, relies on speed and technique to defeat foes who are usually much heavier.

Resume: At the final day of the Autumn Basho tournament on Sept. 25 in Tokyo, he secured his sixth consecutive Emperor's Cup, or season championship. That equaled a 38-year-old record held by Sumo legend Taiho.

The Rebel: He has drawn criticism by being the first yokozuna to be disqualified in a match for pulling an opponent's hair and has been photographed in a suit instead of a traditional Japanese costume. He also has refused to adopt Japanese citizenship.

Sumo weekend

Location: Mandalay Bay Events Center, today-Sunday. Competition begins at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

At stake: The highest-level Sumo athletes will compete in the Grand Sumo Championship. A champion will be determined each day with a Grand Champion crowned Sunday.

Tickets: $175, $125, $75 per session. Call 632-7580.

Asashoryu, the grand champion of sumo wrestling, arrived at Mandalay Bay late Tuesday morning to a phalanx of photographers and curious onlookers, beginning a week that will end with the first Grand Sumo Championship in Las Vegas in the sport's 1,500-year history.

Officials attempted to squire Asashoryu along a prescribed route and what seemed like a detailed schedule, but Asashoryu stunned his handlers when he took a detour to give the Sun a rare one-on-one interview.

The 25-year-old Grand Champion said he weighs about 320 pounds, and he gave some insight into his daily routine and the culinary habits that enable him to sustain his size and strength.

"I do a lot of training to keep my weight up," he said through Momo, his female interpreter. "I eat special food, generally meat and fish. Of course, I consume more food than normal."

How much more?

"One of my portions equals that of five normal people," Asashoryu said.

He paused, then smiled.

"(But) I've heard that a lot of Americans eat a lot of food," he said, "so it might be the same quantity."

Asashoryu rises at 6:30 a.m. every day, follows a strict training regimen until 11, takes a bath and then eats lunch. The rest of the day is his, and he eats his second and last meal of the day at the usual dinner hour.

Both meals, every day, every week, consist of chanko, a stew-type mix of fish, beef, rice, Chinese cabbage, daikon radish, eggplant, leeks, onions, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, cakes of fresh tofu, soy sauce, sake, salt and udon noodles.

Chanko dates to at least the late 19th century. Its nutrients are designed to make bones more dense, the Japanese believe. Beer, omelets, shrimp dumplings and fried chicken usually complement meals.

Konishiki, the heftiest rikishi (wrestler) ever when he topped out at 630 pounds, tipped the scales at a feathery 380 when he was discovered on a Honolulu beach.

To beef up, he regularly ate 10 bowls of chanko, eight enormous bowls of rice, 130 pieces of sushi and 25 portions of barbecued beef. Takamisugi supposedly once downed 65 bowls of the stew in a single sitting.

As a treat, Asashoryu will sometimes eat pasta or hamburgers.

Has he eaten the pufferfish takifugu, the delicacy in Japan known as fugu that can kill if improperly prepared?

"Yes," he said. "Of course."